I had a couple of pink flamingos in my yard for awhile. I named them 'Tongue' and 'Cheek'. They finally died. I think of,embarrassment.

AuntJen I'm sorry I don't mean to hijack your thread, but your name came up in a thread I started ...... I LOVE Mexican-style colors and I'm looking for one in particular that was posted..... um, if you wouldn't mind, any chance you would post more photos from your home? ;) Or possibly email them to me if you don't want to post on the forum? Ducking back down and getting out of the way of the drapes thread .....

Oh suzie2003's post reminds me! One June, years ago, we had our wood floors refinished. Because of the humidity, it was too tacky for the guy to finish them for days. It didn't bother me but it drove my DH crazy. Every day the flooring guy would show up, crawl across the floor on his hands and knees and then say, no, it's still too tacky for the next coat. The guy even came to the house on a Sunday morning, clearly looking like he rolled out of bed, his hair all sticking up, slapped a tool belt over his cut off sweats, and came to our house to touch the floor. The floors look great and, to me, it was worth it so when we added hardwood to the kitchen we called the same guy back. He seemed to be the poster child of what can happen if you breath in too many fumes. But we also suspected it might have been more a result of a misspent youth.

enright5 - I feel ya on the cool/warm issue. We just bought a bank owned train wreck, nearly a complete gut. All the flooring will go and we will need a new kitchen as this one is miserable. We will be saving up for that so it is a couple of years off, but I love bookmarking ideas from people like you and beekeeperswife. I'm currently painting every room in the house in cool tones - blues, greens, greys because I know my future kitchen will be cool with super white counters. Hubby nixed the idea of white cabinets though. I think having a contrast between cool and warm is ok as long as your house doesn't look like a fun house (one room royal purple, the next lime green, etc). And there is a difference between cool and cold. Cold is institutional and uninviting, cool is what you have. And the cabinet lighting is a nice bit of warmth. What other rooms attach to your kitchen besides the dining room? What is the view from the kitchen sink looking out past the island? Just curious as to what the rest of the area looks like. It seems like you have a window on the other side of the room letting in lots of light. You could bring a pop of color into the room with some window treatments. I definitely agree that you need to go white not ivory if you are going to go with a solid color and I DO like the idea of the arabesque. I looked up your WZ tile and had trouble finding it. Is it still being made? I linked up thread that has a picture of it to confirm that is actually your tile. I do like it, but I take it yours is plain white? Two issues I will just point out. Do you forsee selling the house anytime soon? Always need to keep resale in the back of your mind. While this shouldn't make you choose something you hate, you should always put on a perspective home buyers hat, especially if moving in the next 5 years. Also, speaking from experience, tile is forever. Appliances can be swapped out, cabinet hardware changed, even counter tops changed. But removing tile pretty much damages the drywall. Which leads to new dry wall, rehanging of cabinets/new cabinets. Its like peeling an onion. Go with a marble tile like you had in your first picture, arabesque in white, or white tiles in a different pattern like herringbone to mix it up a bit. All choices would be classic and timeless (i.e. no need to update the kitchen for future resale, cross the kitchen off the list)! Get your color from accessories, flowers (this is where your husband comes into play) and window treatments! Here is a link that might be useful: Walker Zanger Gramercy Park